Jupiter and Antiope: The Larger Plate

Slightly later than Rembrandt’s al fresco courtship scenes of the 1640s, this mythological outdoor work depicts one of the god Jupiter’s many mortal conquests. Jupiter appears disguised as a horned and wreathed satyr who comes upon the nymph Antiope slumbering in the nude in a woodland glade. Antiope remains asleep as he delicately peels away her covering sheet and examines her body appreciatively. The relationship between the perspective of the viewer and of the figures is close; we seem nearly to enter the glade, and Antiope’s bed, along with the intrusive god